Fort Halifax

The fort on the colonial Maine frontier that became the symbol of a town.

Built as a French and Indian War garrison and trading post, Fort Halifax—whose rebuilt blockhouse is today preserved in Fort Halifax Park in Winslow, Maine—has welcomed a parade of historic figures from Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr to Penobscot chief Joseph Orono and Maine Governor Percival Baxter.

Over two centuries the fort has been a military outpost, a trading hub, an artistic muse, and a civic emblem. Reduced in the 1800s to a single blockhouse, it later drew archaeologists, travelers, artists, politicians, students, and generations of DAR members who championed its care. The Flood of 1987 swept the blockhouse away, launching a determined community campaign to rebuild and preserve what the town calls its symbol.

This book brings those stories together—famous visitors, the local men and women who tended the site, and the leaders who kept its memory alive and its future hopeful. Richly illustrated and deeply researched, it traces Fort Halifax’s changing roles and enduring meaning.

Includes: more than 30 historical photographs; a timeline of events; and a list of Fort Halifax namesakes.